Fostering a love of physical activity in children can set up a lifetime of healthy habits. However, motivating children to exercise can be daunting when faced with distractions like television, video games and computers.
In an effort to combat lethargy, aerobics instructor and personal trainer Barbara Victor has recently begun teaching kids exercise classes at Gold’s Gym on Route 23 in Riverdale.
Victor’s own children motivated her to start the kids program. To find fun and motivating activities, she spoke with their school gym teacher and searched out videos on YouTube. She watched her girls playing in the yard and asked them what they’d like to do.
Next she brought them and their friends to the gym and gave them an opportunity to use the equipment. The ensuing class, which Victor said is most appropriate for ages 5 to 8, consists of an obstacle course and various games.
“Kids are like adults when they come to exercise,” Victor said. “If it’s not fun, they don’t want to do it.”
Kathy and Ron Monacelli, owners of the Little Gym of Wayne, a developmental gymnastics studio for children age 4 months to 12 years, agree that exercise needs to be fun.
The Monacellis use creative themes in their programs, like “walking the plank” for walking along the balance beam.
“Whatever you do you must make it interesting, and you must make it fun,” Ron said. “Then they will want to do it and they’ll be successful at it.”
Since children have shorter attention spans than adults, you may come up with a number of great ideas for exercise, only to find that the kids don’t stay focused for very long.
“Kids like structure when it comes to homework or bed,” Victor said. “When it comes to exercise, you’ll see them running around with their friends from the trampoline to kickball to swings.”
Strive for variety and let them pick the pace if that’s what works best. As long as they’re moving, Victor believes they’re exercising.
Victor also found that her kids enjoy simple equipment. They love running with, throwing and bouncing on the big balls. They also enjoy punching bags, which can double as a tool for working out aggression and energy, she said. At home they have a trampoline and the neighborhood children are usually “exercising” on it, too. In her classes she’ll even play limbo, if that’s what the kids want to do.
If the exercise and games are fun enough that their friends want to join in, that’s all the more motivation. Parents should not overlook their own exercise routines either, since Victor believes her daughters’ motivation to exercise stems from her own enjoyment and interest in it.
Because the kids exercise class at Gold’s Gym is still new, the program is free and open to anyone, member or not. Parents who belong to the gym can bring their children and work out during the class. Even if the class assumes a permanent spot on the gym schedule, Victor expects that the cost will be minimal in an effort to encourage children to attend.
“I love teaching to the kids,” she said. “It’s so much fun, and it’s definitely challenging.”